Flash-light apparatus.



` J. W. JACKSON.

F'LASH LIGHT APPARATUS. APPLICATIONv FILED MAB.. 6! 1913.

- '52' l aww/who@ CTW @fa/Lw?.

SMM/m43 means for firing a miran STATES PATENT' cantor.. f

JOHN W. JACKSON, 0F DENVER, COLDRADO.

FLASH-LIGHT APPARATUS.

Specication of Letters Patent.

'l Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

-a-full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will ena-ble others skilledV in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

. Myl invention .relates to improvement-s in flash light apparatus and consists broadly in flash light powder and rating the shutter of a camera.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of an .apparatus vwhich may be set to operate art some future timenp'on the occurrence of a predetermined event, such for instance, asthe passing of an animal. My apparatus may he set and left for'an length of time and if an :animal has .passe and in doing so pulled a :string or operated some other form of tripping mechanism either in the `.day time or at night, an equally good exposure will be made by the camera in either instance.V

Another object of the invention is to sol ating means hy the movement of single thumb .piece lor projection.

Another :object is the constructiern of the apparatus in such a way lhat the powder trough may be folded into a omvenfient for -transpmtatioln 'Other :objects will appear hereinafter as I pnoceed with ithe description 'off that `embodiment of the invention, which for the Y u|r poses of 'the present application, I i ave ringmeans and throwing Y `Application med Hatch 6, 1913. Serial H0. 752,298.

illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view taken approximately upon the line 1-2, Fig. 3. Fig 2 isQaL view similar to Fig. 1, but showing mechanism in the position which it occupies at the time the exposure is being made. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional horizontal view taken upon the line 3--3, Fig. 1. Fig. 41s a vertical section taken upon .the line 4 4, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken u-pon the line 5 5, Fig. 3.

'Dhe same reference characters refer to like parts 'throughoutl the views.

In the drawing, which forms a par-t lof this specification, 5 refers to a rectangular casing provided upon its lower surface with .a projection 6, having therein a thneaded socket 7, which is adapted to receive a threaded projection 8 upon a support 9 which in the drawing, I have illustrated as a single post, but which may be of any suitable character as, for instance, a tripod of the ordinary construction.

In Athe top wall of the receptacle 5 is an opening 10 which registers with a short tubular member 12 formed integral with the base of a trough 13, when the latter is in .the full line -sitiou of Fig. 1. K Secured upon the .base o the trough 18 adjacent the tubular 'member 12 is a hard metal member 14 bearing at its outer extremity a pointed projection 15 which I shall hereinafter term a tiring lp-n. The trough 13 is releasably held in its operative position by a spring catch 16, fastened to the receptacle 5 and hav-ing an upper angular extremity which :projects through a suitable opening 4in4 a bracket 17 depending from the bottom of tihe trough.

With-in the receptacle 5 are four vertical rods, 1-8, 19, 20 and 21, the ends of which are secured by any desired means in the upper and lower wal-ls of the receptacle. Coil springs 22 and Q3 surround the lower r'tions l'of-each of the vertical rods.

Slidable upon the rods 20 and y21 above the springs 23 is a plate 21 which carries a hammer 25 having a reduced upper portion adapted to impinge against a percussion -cazp 2G, the latter 'being places. upon-the top of the tubular member 12. A xpla/te 27 is slidaible `upon the -rods 18 and 19 above the springs 22, 'the plate 27 'being overhang by fiat bar 29 having a horizontally bent portion 30, at its upper extremity, the bar 29 being anchored to the'bottom of the receptacle 5. Through an opening in the horizontal portion 30 a small rod 31 is arranged to slide loosely. 'lhe plate 27 is also pro-vided withl an opening to loosel receive the rod 31. The latter merges at its Vupper extremity into a flat disk 32 while near its lower extremity ift carries another flat disk 33 which acts as one abutment for a coil spring 34, the horizontal portion'30 lof the bar 29 constituting the opposite abutment.

A trigge-r 35 pivoted in a bracket 36 has' a shoulder 37 to act as a detent for the plate 27 when the latter is in the retracted position illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4.' At its upper end the trigger 35 has a cam 38 which normally projects into the path of the plateV 24 as the latter rises. A tri ger 40 pivoted to a bracket'41 depending rom the upper wall of the receptacle 5 has a shoulder 42 for engagement with the late 24 when the latter is in. the position i1 ustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, the trigger 40 being normally held in the operative position by a coil spring 43. Also pivoted in the bracket 41 isa bell crank lever 44, the vertical member of which is normally held outwardly from the wall of the receptacle 5 by means of a spring 45. In one edge of the lever is a notch 46 arranged to receive a pin 47 upon the trigger 40.

To the outer extremity of the horizontal arm of the lever 44 is attached a .wire o-r othery iexible connection 48 which passes down through an opening 49 in the base of the receptac e 5 and through a coiled wire tube 50 to a sleeve 51 which is slidable upon a hollow rod 52, the latter having'a longltudinal slot 53 therein through which the' wire 48 passes before being secured to the sleeve 51. The hollow rod 52 is secured to or integralwith the hollow tubular member 54 constituting the end'of the tube 50.

A coiled spring 55 is interposed between the sleeve 51 4and a plate 56 upon the outer extremity of thehollow rod 52, the function of the spring 55`being to return the sleeve 51 to normal position after being operated. A Wire 57 extends through the tube 50-being attached to the receptacle 5 and to the plate 56 at its opposite ends, thus serving to hold together the coils'of the tube 50.

The lower end of the rod 31 has attached thereto a wire 58 which extends downwardly through an opening 59 in the receptacle and through a tube 60 similar in construction to the tube 50. `At its opposite end, this wire 58 is formed into a loop 61 for attachment to the operating lever of a camera shutter. At its outer extremity the tube 60 has a hollow flanged member 62 to which is attached one end of a wire 63, the opposite end being secured to the base ofthe receptacle 5. The wire 63 corresponds to the wire 57 of the tube 50 and has 'a similar function. Near the outer end of the wire 58 is secured a small disk or plate 64 between which and the member 62 is a spring 65 for maintaining the loop 61 in its normal position.

The plate 24 is provided u n one end with a depending apron 66 whlch carries a thumb piece 67 projecting through a slot 68 in the front Wall ofthe rece t-acle 5. A

shoulder-69 upon the bell cran( lever 44 is adapted to engage 4the thumb piece 67 and retain the hammer in what I term, the

halt` cocked position. A

When the apparatus is to be moved about from one place to -another, I turn the powder trough upon its hinge 70 to the broken line position of Fig. 1, the catch 16 having first been retracted from engagement with the bracket 17. ln the folded position, a spring finger 71 automatically engages a small boss 7 2 by means of which lthe folded position of the trough is maintained.

f From the foregoing disclosure, the operation of my improved apparatus may be lreadily understood. i rA camera is setup and focused for the desired picture. My ash light apparatus is then set up near the camera and the loop 61 is placed upon the shutter 'operating lever, some suitable device being arranged for pulling the sleeve 51 outwardly upon the hollow rod 52 at the desired moment vtriggers 35 and 40 lock the sliding plates 24 and 27 in the retracted position.` An

outward movement of the sleeve 51 causes the wire 48 to pull the horizontal arm of the bell crank lever 44 downwardly swinging the vertical arm of the lever toward the right (Fig. 4). the pin 47 upon the trigger 40, thus swlnging the trigger and when the shoulder 42 has been retracted from the plate 24 the springs 23 thrust the plate 24 upward suddenly, causing the hammer 2 5 to strike against .the firing pin 15 and discharge the percussion cap 26.g The latter fires' the flash powder in-'the trough. As the plate 24 rises its rear extremity engages the cam 38 of the trigger 35', swinging the latterl toward the left and into the position of Fig. 2, thereby withdrawing the shoulder 37 from-contact with-ftheplate 27 permitting the latter to riseunder the inluence of the The lever carries with it springs 22. When the plate 27 strikes the l' disk 32 upon theupper end of the small rod 31, it carries the latter rod upwardly against the tension of the spring 34, thus pulling upon the wire 58 and operating the shuttery of the camera. l

The operation of the shutter of the camera, is almost simultaneous with the firing of the fiash light powder, but it Will be evident that a very small interval of time elapses after the discharge of the percussion cap before the shutter is thrown. .This is for the purpose of permitting the flash to reach its greatest intensity before the eX- posure is made.v

It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim: i

l. In a device for firing liash powder and for operating the shutter of a camera, a spring impelledhammer, a trigger for retainingl said hammer in the retracted position, a spring impelled element adapted to.

be connected to the shutter of a camera, a trigger for retaining said element in the retracted position, a cam surface upon said last named trigger, means for retracting the first named trigger, and a projection upon the hammer adapted to engage said cam surface to operate the second named trigger.

2. In a device of the class described, a

spring impelled hammer, spring 1mpelled mechanism connected with the shutter of a camera, a thumb piece attached to said hammer for convenience in retracting the latter and a projection upon the hammer for engagement with a portion of said mechanism whereby retraction( of the hammer will cause a corresponding retraction of the aforesaid portion of said mechanism. v

3. In a device of the class described, a spring impelled hammer, an element connected to the shutter of the camera, a spring impelled plate for moving said element, a thumb piece attached to said hammer for convenience in retracting the latter and a projection upon the hammer for. engagement with the said plate whereby retraction of the hammer will cause retraction of the plate.

4. In a device of the class described,l a rectangular receptacle, hammer mechanism within said receptacle, a powder trough hinged to one side of said receptacle adjacent its upper surface, said receptacle and trough having openings alining when the trough is folded onto the top surface of the receptacle and means for releasably retaining said trough in position .against the top or side surfaces of the receptacle.-

5. In a device of the class described, two spiral springs arranged parallel to eachother, a hammer mounted to be acted upon by one of said springs, a shutter operating element adapted to be acted upon by the other of said springs, a trigger for retaining said element in its retracted Vposition and means adapted to be operated by the throwing of said hammer. for pulling said trigger.

Intestimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

l JOHN W. JACKSON.

Witnesses:

SoLoN J. BoUGH'roN,

Ofr'ro E. Hormon. 

